My tenant is very friendly and we have now swapped email addresses for convenient correspondence, but I declined her offer of tea or coffee on one of my visits because I didn't want to overstep the mark in our business relationship. All I want is the rental money to hit my account each month, and for the outgoings to be at a minimum.

A few more days have passed and my tenant has now emailed a brief message about the lack of digital TV service in the apartment, the cost of her first electricity bill, and problems she has had with parking, as well as the lack of lighting in communal areas.

I was busy at work at the time and didn't reply to her instantly. I later received two missed calls and a voice message asking me to call her back, demanding to know what I was going to do about her problems. This was highly annoying – even though I'd given her my work email address, she surely can't have been expecting me to reply straight away?

My boss tallies up personal calls in his head and at the end of the week (or after a quiet – non-profitable – day) he reminds us of the time we've wasted on our mobile phones during working hours. So I politely emailed her back, saying I would call her when I finished work.

When I returned home that evening, I called her. I hadn't encountered an issue with digital TV in the past because I had cable when I lived there, which was perfect. I asked her if she had a digital TV tuner or whether it was built into her TV but she didn't know the answer, so I couldn't help.

Her first electricity bill was higher than what she thought it should be, so I asked her if she was turning off the immersion heater when she wasn't using it – again she didn't know the answer.

Then I remembered I'd set the timers on the electric heaters to come on at 4pm daily, giving her a warm flat to come home to from work. But after she checked the airing cupboard she realised she'd turned off the timers and left the heaters on a low temperature, non-stop, all day and night – and she wonders why the bill was high. I guess some people aren't born with common sense, they have to be guided in the right direction.

I then had to tell her that the parking issue was something I couldn't help her with as the development my apartment is in doesn't have allocated bays – it's just pot luck as to which parking space will be free for her.

The final moan about communal lighting was also something I couldn't fix (nor was I too concerned about). There are no plans to add any more outside lights to my knowledge. I should have just told her she is living in a very quiet area and shouldn't be worried about any nasty characters because the local residents are lovely people. I guess after a few weeks living there she will soon realise this herself.

I tried to be as detailed as I could over the phone as I didn't have the energy or willpower to visit her again at the flat and show her the timers on the electric heaters and so on. I just kept thinking to myself, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind and she will have to figure it out herself because it will save her money in the long run.